Background Information: "At the risk of being politically incorrect, in almost every age group, males have faster reaction times than females, and female disadvantage is not reduced by practice (Noble et al., 1964; Welford, 1980; Adam et al., 1999; Dane and Erzurumlugoglu, 2003; Der and Deary, 2006). The last study is remarkable because it included over 7400 subjects. Bellis (1933) reported that mean time to press a key in response to a light was 220 msec for males and 260 msec for females; for sound the difference was 190 msec (males) to 200 msec (females). In comparison, Engel (1972) reported a reaction time to sound of 227 msec (male) to 242 msec (female). However, things may be changing--Silverman (2006) reported evidence that the male advantage in visual reaction time is getting smaller (especially outside the US), possibly because more women are participating in driving and fast-action sports. Botwinick and Thompson (1966) found that almost all of the male-female difference was accounted for by the lag between the presentation of the stimulus and the beginning of muscle contraction. Muscle contraction times were the same for males and females. In a surprising finding, Szinnai et al. (2005) found that gradual dehydration (loss of 2.6% of body weight over a 7-day period) caused females to have lengthened choice reaction time, but males to have shortened choice reaction times. Adam et al. (1999) reported that males use a more complex strategy than females. Barral and Debu (2004) found that while men were faster than women at aiming at a target, the women were more accurate. Jevas and Yan (2001) reported that age-related deterioration in reaction time was the same in men and women." Reaction time (RT):is the elapsed time between the presentation of a sensory stimulus and the subsequent behavioral response. RT is often used in experimental psychology to measure the duration of mental operations, known as mental chronometry. The behavioral response is often a button press but can also be an eye movement, a vocal response, or some other observable behavior. Simple reaction time is usually defined as the time required for an observer to detect the presence of a stimulus. For example, an observer might be asked to press a button as soon as a light or sound appears. Mean RT is approximately 180 to 200 milliseconds to detect visual stimuli, whereas for sound it is around 140-160 milliseconds. Go/No-Go reaction time tasks require that the observer press a button when one stimulus type appears and withhold a response when other stimulus types appear. For example, the observer is to press the button when a red light appears and not respond when a green light appears. Choice reaction time tasks require distinct responses for each possible class of stimulus. For example, the observer may be asked to press one button if a red light appears and a different button if a yellow light appears. http://biae.clemson.edu/bpc/bp/Lab/110/reaction.htm
Hypothesis: I think male can react faster then the females!!!
Procedure:
Find a reaction game.
Pick 10 males and 10 females.
Set up a computer to have the "Fastball Reaction Time Game" prepared for play.
Tell each experiment participant to sit down in front of the "experiment" computer.
Explain the game directions to each participant. ("Click on the "Play Again" button. Then place the cursor on the game playing field. Click the computer mouse as soon as you see the baseball. Play the game three times.)
Record all three reaction times for each participant.
Have the 10 males and 10 females play the reaction game.
After the game put down their scores on your spreadsheet.
Materials: The materials that we had to use for the experiment are:
Conclusion: I was right. The males do react faster. Because the males test scores were better like test one 0.24, test two 0.24, and test three 0.22. The females scores were like this: test one 1.38, test two 0.68, test three 0.36!
Science Experiment
Topic: Reaction
Question: Who can react faster?? Female or Male??
Background Information: "At the risk of being politically incorrect, in almost every age group, males have faster reaction times than females, and female disadvantage is not reduced by practice (Noble et al., 1964; Welford, 1980; Adam et al., 1999; Dane and Erzurumlugoglu, 2003; Der and Deary, 2006). The last study is remarkable because it included over 7400 subjects. Bellis (1933) reported that mean time to press a key in response to a light was 220 msec for males and 260 msec for females; for sound the difference was 190 msec (males) to 200 msec (females). In comparison, Engel (1972) reported a reaction time to sound of 227 msec (male) to 242 msec (female). However, things may be changing--Silverman (2006) reported evidence that the male advantage in visual reaction time is getting smaller (especially outside the US), possibly because more women are participating in driving and fast-action sports. Botwinick and Thompson (1966) found that almost all of the male-female difference was accounted for by the lag between the presentation of the stimulus and the beginning of muscle contraction. Muscle contraction times were the same for males and females. In a surprising finding, Szinnai et al. (2005) found that gradual dehydration (loss of 2.6% of body weight over a 7-day period) caused females to have lengthened choice reaction time, but males to have shortened choice reaction times. Adam et al. (1999) reported that males use a more complex strategy than females. Barral and Debu (2004) found that while men were faster than women at aiming at a target, the women were more accurate. Jevas and Yan (2001) reported that age-related deterioration in reaction time was the same in men and women."
Reaction time (RT): is the elapsed time between the presentation of a sensory stimulus and the subsequent behavioral response. RT is often used in experimental psychology to measure the duration of mental operations, known as mental chronometry. The behavioral response is often a button press but can also be an eye movement, a vocal response, or some other observable behavior. Simple reaction time is usually defined as the time required for an observer to detect the presence of a stimulus. For example, an observer might be asked to press a button as soon as a light or sound appears. Mean RT is approximately 180 to 200 milliseconds to detect visual stimuli, whereas for sound it is around 140-160 milliseconds. Go/No-Go reaction time tasks require that the observer press a button when one stimulus type appears and withhold a response when other stimulus types appear. For example, the observer is to press the button when a red light appears and not respond when a green light appears. Choice reaction time tasks require distinct responses for each possible class of stimulus. For example, the observer may be asked to press one button if a red light appears and a different button if a yellow light appears.
http://biae.clemson.edu/bpc/bp/Lab/110/reaction.htm
HELPFUL HINTS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_time
GAMES:
http://getyourwebsitehere.com/jswb/rttest01.html
http://www.robrob8.com/games/reaction.htm
http://reactiongame.net/
Hypothesis: I think male can react faster then the females!!!
Procedure:
Materials: The materials that we had to use for the experiment are:
Experiment: Do the Experiment.
Data/Results:
Conclusion: I was right. The males do react faster. Because the males test scores were better like test one 0.24, test two 0.24, and test three 0.22. The females scores were like this: test one 1.38, test two 0.68, test three 0.36!